Mail-carrying device.



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MAIL-CARRYING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1906.

Application filed April 9, 1906. Serial No. 310.647.

To a/ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, HANS PEARSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Alcester, in the county of Union and State of South Dakota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-CarryingDevices; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to rural mail-delivering devices and the obj ect isto provide an inexpensive device by which farmers and others who gettheir mail deposited in a box at the side of the country road, which isoften hundreds or even thousands of feet away from the residence, mayhave the mail brought home to the house without 4walking to theroadsidefor it, a trip which is especially objectionable in the winterseason. This and other objects I attain by the novel construction andarrangements of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, andwhich consist of a certain arrangement of posts and lines or wiressupported therein and serving to transfer the mail-box between theroadside and the house or residence.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of such transferring-linewith the mailbox at the roadside. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the linea a in Fig. 1 with the mail-box just passing the post. Fig. 3 is a topview of the end of the line at the roadside. Fig. 4 is a modification.Fig. 5 is a top view of the guides 17 shown in several of the otherviews. Fig. 6 is la side view of the mail-box as suspended from thetransferring-cable by two hangers. Fig. 7 is Fig. 6 with only onehanger. Figs. 8, 9, 10 are modifications of the upper portion of Fig. 2.

In the following description it may appear as if some parts and featuresin the drawings are overlooked; but that is because they have beendescribed and claimed in another application, Serial No. 310,646, filedsimultaneously with this one. In said other application I use a wire ortrack for the support of the mail-box and an endless cable to move thebox with, while in the present construction I dispense with such trackand let the endless cable support the box. This and other improvementswill be fully understood from the drawings, which will now be referredto by reference-numerals.

1 designatesthe ground; 2,- the farmers house or a stationary objectnear the house. 3 is a post near the roadside 4, where the ruralmail-delivering wagon passes along and deposits the mail into themail-box 5 when` has a crank 10 fixed on its shaft 11, jourv naled in abracket 12, fixed upon the object 2. The other pulley 8 revolves on apin 13, inserted in a frame 14, projecting from the post 3 out over theroad 4, so that the mail-wagon may drive partly in under the frame, andthus reach the mail-box very conveniently. Said frame 14 may consist ofa single arm from a single post, as in Fig. 3, or it maybe U-shaped andsecured vto two posts, as in Fig. 4, where the line is long and may havea tendency to twist or turn a single post. A frame similar to 14 may beusedat the other end of the line for delivering the mail-box through asuitable opening into the house.

Upon each of the intermediate posts 15 is secured a bracket 16, whichmay be modified inform, as shown by 16a, 16h., and 16C in Figs. 8, 9,and 10, respectively.

In Fig. 2 the hanger 6 of the mailfbox i is curved in and downwardbetween the guides r17 (best shown in Fig. 5) and by a double-taperedtube 18, fixed to the lower strand 7 of the cable, whose upper strand issupported in an aperture 19 in the upper part of the bracket, preferablyupon a sheave 20. The lower strand is guided and supported by thegrooved sheaves 21 22, revolving on the IOO studs 23 and 23a, which havethe guides 17 fixed to their upper ends. From the bracket-arm 23aprojects a horizontal stud 24, carrying a roller 25, which helps tosupport the cable 7. The arm 28 ispivoted at 26 and is by a spring 27 atall times pressed with its .l

sheave 22 toward the cable. Its motionis, however, controlled by twofingers 2 8 on an arm 29, secured at 30 upon the bracket. To prevent thetube 18 from breaking on the .TIO

sheaves 21 22 when the box is swinging in the A' 2 ses wind, the guides17 are to guide the arm 16 while it passes between the sheaves. This mayalso be accomplished by having the guides fixed, as 17a, on a specialarm 31, extending from the post below the box, and a guide 32, xedunderneath the box, so that it passes between the guides. In themodifications Figs. 8 and 10 is shown that such lower arm may be formedintegral with the main bracket.

Upon the house or other fixed object 2 is mounted a signal-bell 33, onwhich strikes a hammer 34, operated by a spring 34a and a cord or wire35, having its other end fixed to a lever 36, pivoted upon the frame 14,so that the mail-carrier may ring the bell, and thus inform the owner ofthe box that mail was deposited. Said signal-wire may be guided instaples 37, driven into the posts, or preferably in holes in thebracket, as indicated at 38 in Fig. 2 or 38a in Fig. 8.

In the modification Fig. 8 the sheaves 21 22 revolve in the verticalplane, and the spring-pressed arm 23b has a guarding-hook 40 to keep thecable-strand 7 a on the sheavc, and the hanger 6a is less curved than 6in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 9 the hanger 6b is suspended directly downward from the cable 7,and the sheave 22 revolves on a rectangular member 41, sliding in agroove 42 in the bracket 16), in which groove it is retained by the head43 of a bolt screwed into the bracket through a slot 89 in the member,so that the spring 27a has a chance to force the member, with the sheave22, toward the sheave 21, whereby the cable is always retained in themeeting grooves of said sheaves, the spring yielding only enough to letthe hanger of the mail-box pass between them. In this form the guides 17and arms 31 32 in Fig. 8 are used; but for obvious reason it is notnecessary to show them in both views.

In Fig. 10 the sheaves 21a and 22a are placed in axial or centralposition to each other. Their grooves are modified, as shown, and onesheave is fixed on a short shaft 44, the other on a longer shaft 45,both revolving in the bracket; but the shaft 45 may also slide againstthe resistance of the spring 46 sufliciently to allow the hanger 6b ofthe box to pass between the two sheaves when either one of the taperedends of the tube 18 (best shown in Fig. 7 forces the sheaves apart andlet the hanger pass between them, whereupon the sheaves close again andguide the cable only. The pulley 9 is grooved, so as to get a good holdon the cable, which is operated in either direction by turning the crank10. If said crank is about six inches long and the pulley is abouttwentyefour inches in diameter, the mail-box will come and go about asfast as a good bicycle-rider.

In Fig. 1, 47 is a coil-spring encircling a bolt 48, sliding in theframe 14 and having an elongated head or arm 49 meeting the hanger 18close up under the cable. When such meeting takes place, the operatorfeels at the crank 1() that the spring 47 yields and rebounds, and heknows thereby that the box is at the end of the line whether he can seeit or not.

It will be seen that the various modifica tions are all for the sameprinciple-viz., to carry the letter-box suspended from and fixed to anendless cable operated by a pulley and crank, and to guide and supportsuch cable by grooved pulleys, of which one is spring-pressed toward theother and is only forced away by the necessary enlargement on the cablewhere the hanger of the box is connected to it, and to guide the hangeror box so that it will not break on the sheaves.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. A mail-carrying device comprising a line of posts, a grooved pulleyat each end of the line, an endless cable extending over the pulleys, amail-box secured by a hanger or hangers to the cable; a crankoperatively connected with one of the pulleys, brackets fixed on theposts intermediate the ends of the line, and spring-closed groovedsheaves mounted on the brackets for guiding and supporting the cable.

2. A inail-carrying device comprising a line of posts, a grooved pulleyat each end of the line, an endless cable extending over the pulleys, amail-box secured by a hanger or hangers to the cable, a crankoperatively connected with one of the pulleys, brackets fixed on theposts intermediate the ends of the line, spring-closed grooved sheavesmounted on the brackets for guiding and supporting the cable, and meansto prevent swinging of the mail-box while its hanger passes between thesheaves, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A mai l-carrying device comprising a line of posts, a grooved pulleyat each end of the line, an endless cable extending over the pulleys, amail-box secured by a hanger or hangers to the cable; and a crankoperatively connected with one of the pulleys, the terminal post at oneor both ends of the line having a horizontally-proj ecting arm or framesupporting the pulley beyond the post, so'as to deliver the box out overa wagon or into a house, as the case may be.

4. A inail-carrying device comprising a line of posts, a grooved pulleyat each end of the line, an endless cable extending over the pulleys, amail-box secured by a hanger or hangers to the cable; a crankoperatively connected with one of the pulleys, brackets fixed on theposts intermediate the ends of the line, springclosed grooved sheavesmounted on the brackets for guiding and supporting the cable, and meansfor guiding the IOO IIO

idle strand of the Gable, substantially as set [lever at the other endof the line, and a il'orth. guided Wire extending from the lever and op-5. A mail-carrying device comprising a eratively connected With thehammer, for line of posts, a grooved pulley at each end of the purposeset forth. 5 the line, an endless cable extending over the In testimonywhereof I affix my signature 15 pulleys, a mail-box secured by a hangeror in presence of two Witnesses. hangers to the cable, a crankoperatively HANS PEARSON. v connected With one of the pulleys, a sgnal-Witnesses: v bell and hammer adapted to strike on the CHAs. J. PETERSON,1o bell at one end of the line, a hand-operated H. W. SEDGWICK.

